Gloucestershire schoolgirl's Christmas wish - to litter pick the 12 days of Christmas

A teenager from Gloucestershire is picking litter every day over the festive period for what she has called the "12 Days of Pickmas."

For the last four years Heather Kent from Fairford has made it her mission to collect litter.

In her latest challenge she has been collecting litter for 12 days while making up a song about the things she finds.

Heather said: " I picked a bag of rubbish and one of the things I collected was a Costa cup so I made up the line 'On the first day of pickmas my litter picker gave to me, a Costa cup that was empty.'

It's really easy and fun as you can make up your own little song and it's a good way of looking after the environment."

The 13 year old started her litter picking campaign after being astounded by the amount of rubbish on her local streets and the danger it can be for animals.

In the spring she went on another extreme litter picking challenge; collecting 100 bags of rubbish from lay-bys, ditches and her local roads, in 40 days over lent in memory of Captain Sir Tom Moore.

In doing so, she also raised more than £2,000 for Great Western Hospital in Swindon.

Heather hopes to one day become a West End star. She said she wanted to do something about the state of her local area in Fairford, Gloucestershire, after realising the rubbish could harm animals.

Heather adds: "I'm trying to get other people involved of all ages, because litter picking is such a fun thing to do and with pickmas you can create your own little song too."

Her mother Julie Kent said: "Both me and her dad think she is amazing. Her determination to make the planet a better place to live for both animals and humans alike, and in doing so raising awareness amongst the wider public means we are so proud of her."